That time
by nirimiri
Summary: They are looking for a home.
1. 01

Its midnight, you were sure. And as always, your mind won't let you rest.

Do you regret the things you have done?

At first, obviously you did not. You thought of once the done was made it couldn't be restored as they wished, however, your so-called partner didn't think the way you did.

As a demon, your power was so high you could actually play god.

The first time you woke up, you were bounded to that child whose determination were strong enough to keep you around.

They were younger, they did not talk.

For some reason, people started calling them by your name.

Maybe because they were human just like you, maybe because the monsters were such idiots, and actually mistook them with you.

But that was impossible, you were dead, everyone knew.

In the end, you didn't care, neither did the human. You followed them, you honestly didn't have other choice. When they tried to read the signs, you perfectly knew they had no idea of what it was wrote in them.

Maybe they didn't know how to read? The human was quite young after all; however you perfectly knew the reason was them not know monster language.

 _Writing, whatever._

Still, you never discarded the possibility of them not knowing how to read and probably write as well.

The human would just stare at the sign, maybe trying to comprehend it, or maybe just waiting, expecting for something to happen. Seconds, then minutes passed, and if it weren't for you interfering, you were sure the human could actually wait hours, standing there for something to happen. So, you softly whisper at their ear, reading loud enough for them to hear.

You had no trouble translating it, you were used to this.

Maybe you were also a fool. But the more time you spend by the human's side, the more comfortable you felt, even to the point of putting formalities aside and start joking for and with them.

From little interactions with things such as holes, dogs and their reflection in the mirror, to give them advice at puzzles, facing danger as well as making new bonds.

By showing kindness, you felt weak, but you couldn't help it. You tried to convince yourself it was only for now, until something different occurred.

You got to know the human's name. "Frisk" was the name the human revealed to your brother.

When everything ended, you were curious why the human decided to go back on their steps. By talking to every monster left, you thought of it as a waste of time, but you understood your place as a spectator, so you silently watched, translating their body languages as well as signs when necessary.

When you both returned to the point where you both wake up in, you recognized the silhouette of your brother watching over the bed of golden flowers.

Frisk stayed with him, and Asriel said what he wished and needed to. Explaining your actions as well as his part of the story. You listened carefully, and when finish, you couldn't help but feel ironically amused.

You agreed with his words, you never were the greatest person as everyone thought. You truly were horrible.

You were human after all.

And all humans deserved to rotten in hell, including you.

You repeated the adventure more than you would have liked, but for some reason, you never grew tired of it, and you were sure neither did the human, Frisk.

You managed to see your loved ones from your past life for many times, your mother, your father, even your brother just like mentioned. But unlike your past life, your love for them reduced just to sympathy; and that was ok.

At this point, when you both had seen everything, every little detail from the same route with the same happy ending, you knew that because of the curiosity it was time for them to dare try new outcomes.

First, they started by getting rid of just **_one_** important character; as expected, both got a different outcome, something new.

Some ends were bittersweet, others neutral, they hold every feeling you would expect: sadness, bitter, but mostly hate. And after seeing all, it was time to go to extreme measures, deep into unknown territory.

Because you were a spectator, but also an ( _invisible_ ) important piece of the story, you decided to classify the different outcomes both had reached;

The one where everyone was finally free, safe and happy. Satisfied by your interactions and by refusing to fight. A pacifist route, _a pacifist ending_.

The ones where by taking pieces of the board that changed something in the story. Whether it was by hurting or murdering some or just one. A neutral route, _a neutral ending_.

There was just one left, the one in where all pieces as well as side characters most need to be removed no matter what. A genocide route, _a genocide ending_.

You wonder of the outcome from the last.

The emptier the surroundings became, the more your satisfaction grew. These weren't any sensations like before. There was nothing but adrenaline and apathy.

The place would fall in a deadly silence at the human's presence, some monsters even bold enough to whisper about them. But there's no issue, you would whisper them how many were left before going further.

At some point dust covered the human's shoes. Monster dust. You would grin at every call of help the monsters would shout, knowing no one would come.

When the human killed Toriel, you felt a strange feeling, a strange pity, but ignore it anyway. You knew Frisk wasn't fighting back, because no matter how much it pained them, in the end just like you they wanted to see where would it end.

Despair was everywhere, distant sobbing and suspicious noises could be heard by both. Frisk knew it was from the remining monsters running away, to hide from them. But not all of them.

Some monsters were fool enough to show mercy towards them.

Frisk thought of them, of Papyrus, Monster Kid, even Asgore, and at some point Toriel. Them now being dust in some part of the underground.

The struggle with Sans as well as Undyne was such a trouble, making both slowly progress. The human died multiple times, there was no doubt in that fact. But just as expected, in the end nothing stopped them.

When fighting, Frisk would avoid the attacks, you would give them information and the human would fight.

Sometimes even Frisk attacked as well, for the sake of experience the adrenaline, but the human didn't notice that.

You knew that after all the pain, Frisk finally blocked the guilt, becoming the apathy everyone saw in their behavior.

When they finally killed your brother, before you knew, you stopped being a presence.

You stopped being ' _the voice that follows_ '.

You introduced yourself.

You smiled at them, presenting yourself as the demon that comes when people call its name. You explain your awakening, and the things you learned thanks to them. You know Frisk is listening, however you are talking to the one behind the threads.

However of who's listening and who's answering, you propose both the choice of erase the useless world both destroyed. A world where only remains empty places, with nothing left but broken hopes and dreams.

What was the use of keeping it at this point? You wondered was you waited for their answer.

Then, the realization suddenly hit you. Of what does that satisfaction you felt every time something was removed really meant.

Of feeling received.

Every time something was removed and the stats became higher, the bigger the possibilities of creating a new world became.

You proposed to erase the now pointless world in order to move into the next, and when done, you could finally start working in fixing the mess.

You did not move, smiling at them while waiting for them to make a choice, but whatever they choose, you already had a plan in mind.

You notice their hand shook, stopping between both choices. The human started regretting their decisions it seemed, but Frisk understood and accepted the consequences.

Frisk unlike the human, started with something they didn't agree at all, _of something they still doubt of doing_, however, they learned to deal with it at the end. For Frisk, the correct choice was to let it go and erase what was now unsurmountable.

Your smile stretched, Frisk did know better.

The human by the other hand, the one who forced the route to start without any hesitation, the one who did not doubt of destroying it all was now regretting it.

Were they afraid just like Asriel was?

Afraid of all reaching its absolute end and so leaving nothing behind for them?

Frisk's hand tried to reach the ERASE button, just for it to get back on hold such action, refusing to give. The SOUL above Frisk's chest glowed intensively, reflecting the anxiety of gaining control back.

You wanted to laugh at how useless this struggle was.

You did nothing and stand still, playing your role as the spectator you were, after all it did no matter what was chosen, you were the one in control.

The struggle ended with Frisk being defeated, as the human selected the DO NOT button.

At first, you notice Frisk's despair, but still played dumb anyway, showing confusion over the chosen decision.

Your eyes widened, as your passive smile slowly turned into a twisted one only to finally conclude by stating that no matter what they wished, they never had the power over it as they thought.

Ending it by getting rid of their presence, you looked at the now still body of your ( _true_ ) partner laying over the non-existent floor. The heart's red shine slowly dying as it implies the puppet master is now gone.

You walk towards them, noticing the floating SOUL.

You take it.

By getting on your knees you hold Frisk's inert body in your arms, returning the SOUL right into the inside of Frisk's chest, where it belongs.

Gently letting go, you let the unconscious one rest for a while.

There were things needed to be done.


	2. 02

You became used to the void, in where there is not need of sleep nor eat, however for Frisk it was a different case. As for you can say, Frisk still have trouble adjusting to the place.

They have been here for quite some time now, the exact time is unknown due to the absence of rules and laws in this place. It could have been years, as well as months, days or even hours. Even minutes or mere seconds were also a possibility.

Frisk would often feel the emptiness in their stomach only to try and force themselves to not think about it, just as you instructed. Because there's no laws, nor sense in a literal empty place where nothing exists, if done right, you can outsmart it. You explained to them that to avoid hunger you must not think of it, and so, your body will adjust.

Then there's also the need of sleep that, by doing what told, can also be avoided. But because there nothing else to do, Frisk usually decided to sleep every time they felt tired. You couldn't really complain, so you would usually let them be.

The routine was becoming tiring. With no successful results you couldn't help but frown every time a new inconvenience pops out. For you to create ( _or in this case restore_ ) the world you needed the ' _seeds_ ' from the previous locations of the underground.

No, you will not regret of erasing them, it was something needed to be done after all. Because the moment the genocide route started, the moment world slowly started to corrupted itself.

There was no choice. You understood that in order to achieve the genocide end, Frisk needed to dispose of their own feelings and emotions. They needed to become an empty shell for them to reach that state of apathy the route demanded them to have to finish it all.

If you restored the world by using the previous codes, and Frisk tried to search for the happy ending they loved, it would never be the same. Because you erased the world, it became yours in a way.

Because you are a demon, the world became corrupted by a part of you.

Because you _are_ that feeling. You _are_ the embodiment of that feeling. That feeling that _it_ , and later on, Frisk felt when ending it all.

And because of it, Frisk became corrupted as well. After all you knew it was something inevitable. But there is no issue, you can fix them, and Frisk was doing a good job so far.

But what about the world? What will happen?

You knew that for you there was no salvation, you already reached your end.

But again, there was Frisk. Someone who still had a chance. Someone who _had_ reached that chance, but was took apart from it.

They were a good partner, and you actually had enjoy to be by their side in their adventure though the underground as much as you wouldn't admit. The least you could do before returning to your dead state was return to them what they gained with they effort.

Gosh, you truly are a fool.

The biggest you would say.

You decided to take a break from coding. Lefting the code windows in oblivion, in just a matter of seconds it recognized that you did not have any use of them as for now. Letting them faint into nothingness again, you gave a fleeting gaze towards Frisk.

The child rested over the non-existent floor. Their body curled as much as the could, you noticed some spasms travel though their body in their sleep.

If time existed inside that place, you could afirm they have been sleeping the equivalent of three days, in your perspective at least. Maybe for them that time had been just five hours of rest.

What a funny place indeed.

You decided too look over Frisk's states. Sliding your finger downwards through the air. A few options appeared in front of you. You checked the menu, going directly towards Frisk's information.

It seem they are feeling cold, anxiety is blooming in a fast way and their breath became irregular for now quite some time now. They must have to be dealing with a nightmare you conclude.

What a trouble, but still not that much of a surprise.

For Frisk to be fixed, they must get their emotions back. You have being helping by coding them back in their own file, however just like always there are consequences.

In Frisk's case, the retained emotions during the route will know start affect them just as they had should. They would react in them as if they were some kind of haunting ghost.

Haunting memories.

As for now, Frisk had developed survivor's guilt, PTSD, mild dysthymia that if something isn't done it could evolve into depression, and the cherry on the top would be the selective mutism. But for what you have conclude, they already had the former one. Probably.

This definitely looked all but good.

But what can you do? You are just a dead child!

You have thought about this, of a possible solution for Frisk. Maybe, if you could bring Frisk to a healthy environment all those issues shouldn't affect them anymore?

Since in this place there wasn't much to do, Frisk had all the time to overthink and recapitulate the past events. And that wasn't really any help either, for both honestly.

Maybe, if you can found such place, you could clone the codes and by molding them you can slowly gather all the pieces you needed to reconstruct the world.

It could work!

Time to get moving then.


	3. 03

They, _it_ , have tried to come back.

They have waited for you, so they could ask you to restore what, even if they didn't erase it, did destroyed.

It's been so long since you have heard a thing of them. But maybe for them it had only passed some of minutes. The void truly affected everyone in its own individual way, didn't it?

They asked for you to talk, then they beg you to return the world to it's old state.

But you can't, it was spoiled to the point of no chance for it to return to it's pure way. You remind them of their actions, of what they did with their own choices. Reminding them of how they made the world be on edge, only to finally give leaving them no satisfaction to enjoy as they thought.

But they insists.

So, what you do is clone all the corrupted data of that hopeless world. You try to repay it knowing is useless.

But they don't know.

You make a fast vessel for them. Frisk deserves to rest, a break far away from them. By using a copy of Frisk's coding you make a human vessel for them to use. It may look like Frisk, but only you can see their true apparience.

It remindes you of the Goner ones.

You take a mental note to not forget of them. They were a part of the world at some point after all. They deserved to be added as well.

You finish all you need, it probably took you some days to finish it all. But if they came back after what could probably had been years to you, then those 'days' must have been seconds to them.

But anyway.

When you are about to gave it, you think about it again.

Why would **_you_** need to give **_them_** what they want?

Maybe there's a way for both to be satisfied. They have something you have been interested since you awoke. Something you lost long ago, and now that you are the one in advantage, _maybe_ , you can get it back.

A mischievous smile forms in your face, they can't see it, but your silence may have gave it away.

You offer them a deal.

 ** _Something_** , in exchange of the world. You don't tell them what you want. Not yet. But you _know_ they are so desperate.

They accept.

Your smile grows to the point of showing your teeth. You recall again, you would take their SOUL in exchange of the world.

It shakes, they hesitate, but again accept in the end.

It doesn't take long before they lend it to you. Maybe after your last encounter, they finally understood the correct way to behave around you. Of finally understanding who's the one in power.

In control.

Before giving them the time to think twice and complain, you cut them off. Exchanging what you promised to return, finishing the deal.

Congratulations! Now you have a SOUL.

Imagine all the things you can do know! Maybe when you finish reconstructing the world, you can rewrite yourself in it again. You could even correct the history and bring Asriel back, so Frisk would have more siblings!

Or maybe not.

Of what you hesitate? Of bringing Asriel back? Of you being alive? Of changing the story, and so the outcome? Of bring both or none?

You honestly don't know, but is so tentative. Having a soul truly have gave you many possibilities for you to reach, try and unlock.

You _will_ definitely think about it.

Who knows.


	4. 04

When you though there was no use for this doomed ( _and for now absent_ ) world, you found that little light that gave the hope you needed to not give.

From all the so-called timelines such as alternative realities and universes, somehow you managed to reach one out of no where you can recall.

It happen too suddenly as well as, uh, _random_...?

But regardless of how it happen, it didn't concerned you at the moment. The little peak the world showed you was more than enough to encourage to start planning right away.

First you checked the compabilities between both worlds, and for your luck, both were awfully similar. Too much for your taste even surpassing your expectations. But you couldn't complain, it made your work easier and the process faster.

Now, you needed to search for even the slightest gap in the world to put Frisk in it. It was quite applicant since you needed for it to be as dismissive as possible so it wouldn't impact in a great way the world's structure. You wanted the world to be in the exact state it was as for now. For you to make such ( _mistaken_ ) change was the last thing you needed to deal with, so you needed to be careful with this one.

The more deep you search the world, the more the similarities you found. There was a version of you former family as well as other monsters Frisk has encountered and meet though the underground.

There even was some uncorrupted files from monsters that your world damaged long ago. But just as this had its up's you also found out there was also some down's.

As much similarities the world shared with yours, it had its contrasts. For starters some relations were different from yours, whether they never occurred or just became the opposite.

Then, the thing that most intrigued you was the fact tha neither did you or Frisk happen to exist in this strange world. The same thing occured with the great war.

Instead, there was another... _person_ who happen to take both of your roles at the same time.

For some reason, the sound of that brought inside you a feeling of disgust towards them. ( _But you would deal with that later._ )

But feelings aside, the Dreemurrs happen to be the only monster family to adopt a human, maybe if you rewrite the code a little you could get away by establishing Frisks as the second human child adopted by the family. That way it wouldn't look so out of place, right?

Of course not.

As you typed and changed values you went over your plan for a second time to cover something in cased you missed it.

The timeline that the world hold showed a great feat about to happen at some point, but of what it was you could just wonder. However of what could it be, you should be done with your business by the time it occurred.

A tired yawn reached your ears catching your attention in the process. You took your eyes off the windows and screens floating around you for a moment to take a look at the half asleep human not so far from you.

You watch Frisk strech their body, pulling their arms over their head before recompose themselves as they took seat without moving out of their place, they cross their legs.

Filting their head up so they could see you, they weakly wave at you. Moving their lips your eyes goes over their head, where a black dialogue box appears over them. White letters start poppin on such box as the same time Frisk moves their lips, you pay attention.

' _Good morning_ ' it reads. You hold the need to remark that in that place mornings doesn't exist.

" **Did you rest well?** " You ask ignoring your thoughts as you lift your hands to take some windows off your face, Frisk's head lowers.

" _I think_ " The letters reduce it's size, meaning it was a murmur what was said. You hummed.

" **You dealed with a nightmare half way through, so it's not much of a surprise.** " You state again, now putting some attention on your unfinished work. Frisk tilts their head at the mentioned thing.

' _Why didn't you woke me then? You usually do so when it happens_ '

" **It was not that lethal so I figured you could handle it, besides, I am busy as you can see.** "

' _Oh_ ' They breath out. ' _Right..._ '

You don't need to look to notice their fists being hold tight. A growing feeling of frustration starts to manifest with in them. It was normal to you for this to happen, so just like always, you let them be.

Frisk gazes downwards, an immense feeling of misery slowly filling them, corrupting their mood. They really couldn't help it, everytime their reminded of the heavy weight of their sins over their shoulders, always made them feel as some kind of sturbon.

But now they don't think of that, they needed to distract themselves.

' _Chara?_ ' They call again.

" **Yes? Do you need something from me?** " You reply. Your eyes still fixed over the windows with your fingers traveling from one to another. You felt Frisk's body move, they must have stand up.

' _What are you doing?_ ' They ask, their footsteps becoming louder every time they take a step. They're coming closer.

" **Give me a moment.** " You sign, showing them the palm of your hand for a few seconds, you gaze still focused on the numbers. " **I'll explain it all to you, I just need to take care of this first.** " They blink, following your working hands with their curious glare.

' _...can I see you work?_ ' You flash a look at them for a moment before returning back to the codes.

" **Sure**."


End file.
